Painting Pt. Bonita Part I: Watercolor

When I got frustrated with painting from life last month, I took a break and experimented in working from the same photo in different media. First I did the sketch above in my journal from the photo below which I took at Point Bonita in the Marin Headlands last year.

Point Bonita photo cropped to 9x12"

I took the photo during a very cold and windy plein air paint out where I did a plein air sketch (posted here) and planned to eventually paint the scene in the studio. As you can see, I did what I call “imaginating” (a combination of imagining and exaggerating the colors I see in a photo or a scene) instead of rendering the photo as is.

Point Bonita #2, Watercolor, 12x9"

After I did the little journal painting at the top of this post (which I like very much), I tried it again 4 times bigger on a 12×9″ Arches watercolor block (above). It was fun to get back to painting in watercolor on something other than a small journal page. I didn’t use any masking on either of these, just painted around areas I wanted to stay white.

I enjoyed working larger on a watercolor block–I could work at a slant, mix juicy washes, and not have to worry about trying to keep the pages flat and the journal open. I’m falling in love with watercolor painting all over again.

It’s a lovely photo to work from – a great composition. I like the watercolour #2 best but they are all interesting. Bonita – an interesting name. We have a famous pirate story near Geelong – Bonita Bonita or maybe Bonito – who stashed away a treasure in the Queenscliff area but no-one has been able to find it yet. Many syndicates and hopeful miners have tried and tried.

Hi Wendy. That’s a great pirate story. Bonita is Spanish and means pretty. Bonito…isn’t that a kind of tuna? Neither seem a good name for a pirate! I wish more of my photos turned out well enough to work from but I’m not such a great photographer unfortunately. Jana

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